


Simian Shrub

by YaYaSestrahood



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 00:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7411066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaYaSestrahood/pseuds/YaYaSestrahood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helena presents Rachel with a friendship bracelet. Based on Monkey Tree by piggy09.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simian Shrub

**Author's Note:**

  * For [piggy09](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piggy09/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Monkey Tree](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7088509) by [piggy09](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piggy09/pseuds/piggy09). 



> Based on piggy09's wonderful Monkey Tree. Please read that first. I brought up the friendship bracelet idea, and she seemed intrigued, so here it is. I wrote it so she doesn't have to.

"I appreciate you taking the time," Rachel tells Helena, gently dropping books back into her bag with shaking hands. It takes a tremendous amount of focus to maintain this illusion of calm. Progress has been infuriatingly slow. Of course it had been naive to think it would be anything but. To think that after one or two sessions with Helena, Rachel could be the straight-A student she was expected to be. A stupid fantasy. If the ones trained to teach couldn't remove this block from her mind, how could she expect it from this girl who doodles in class and eats cereal straight from the box?

"I do not mind," Helena says. She looks somewhat nervous, palms rubbing up and down on the thighs of her pants. Her eyes are usually on Rachel when they're together, studying and processing her behavior like a toddler might. Never judging, just learning. But today, her eyes are elsewhere. Still, Rachel can't will up enough interest to ask about it. She finishes closing her bag and turns to leave.

"See you in class tomorrow then."

"Wait, Rachel." She tenses up at the sound of her name. She's not in the mood to wait. Helena has her backpack in her lap, unzipping it as loudly as possible. She shoves her hand in and stops. Breathes in deep, then begins to speak. "There is a girl in art class, very pretty like Barbie doll. Very loud."

Rachel's eyes narrow. She tries desperately to see where this could possibly be headed. Tries to find a way to prepare for it.

"She told me about the bracelet she wears. Friends make them for each other." Helena smiles at the concept.

Rachel begins to feel ill. She couldn't possibly have...

Helena pulls it out slowly, and Rachel's vision blurs. Her eyes refuse to focus on it, but she knows it's hideous. Incongrous materials tied together in some crude imitation of a bracelet. She sees burlap and possibly human hair? _And this is meant to be a token of friendship?_ She beats back several impulses: to laugh, to walk away, to throw it out the window. It would be best to end this interaction as quickly as possible and never speak of it again. Reluctantly, she extends her palm.

"Thank you... Helena." She adds her name at the end in an effort to seem more sincere, but she instantly hates the sound of it. Too earnest. Now she might receive another gift tomorrow.

Helena grins and rushes over. She gently takes Rachel's wrist and slips the bracelet on. Rachel shudders.

"Oh, that's... not necessary," Rachel says, her voice quavering at the sudden touch. Helena tilts Rachel's arm up and down, back and forth, checking the bracelet from every angle. The grin never leaves her face. Rachel's wrist itches painfully. _Why does it itch so much?_

"It looks nice on you," Helena says, pleased with herself. "Sorry it is not fancy like your clothes." Her eyes get wide suddenly, remembering something. "Oh! I have one also!" She plunges her hand back into her bag and pulls out another one. She made two, of course. She very quickly slips it on. "See? Because we are friends now, yes?" She waggles her wrist by Rachel's, showing the two bracelets off side by side.

Rachel swallows hard, still unable to look at the thing on her wrist. She has to leave. "I should be going." She turns and opens the door. Deliberately, not too quickly.

"Okay," she hears from behind her. "It's okay if you do not like it, Rachel." She pauses in the doorway, feeling something deep in her chest. Guilt, or something like it. She turns her head back and gives the faintest hint of a smile. Vague. She knows it isn't enough to assure Helena, but it's enough to suppress the feeling. Helena returns the half-smile and waves goodbye. She looks a little sad now, but Rachel doesn't linger on her face. _She'll be fine._

 

Rachel's head is down as she rushes through the hallway. She wants to get out, tear the bracelet off, and go home. Forget this happened. She plows straight into Sarah coming around the corner.

"Oi! Watch yourself," she says, brushing imaginary dust off her jacket. Rachel tries to move past her, but feels a hand around her wrist. _Again. Why can't this family keep their hands to themselves?_

"Nice bracelet," Sarah says with a smirk.

"Let go of me." Rachel is out of patience now. Done wearing the mask. Sarah doesn't let go.

"She was up all night making that," Sarah says. Her eyes are locked onto Rachel's. Her expression is serious. "For _you_. You get that?"

Rachel knows the meaning behind her words. An unspoken threat. Rachel badly wants to throw the bracelet to the floor and stomp on it, just to see what Sarah would do. The intimidation act is tiring now. She suspects Sarah is all talk and no follow-through. But... she can't bring herself to make enemies of these two. _Why not?_

"Have a good evening, Sarah," Rachel says, looks down to her wrist expectantly. Sarah finally lets go.

"Yeah. You too."

  
Rachel tears out onto the sidewalk, pulling the bracelet off at last. She clenches it tightly in her fist. Her wrist is burning now. She drags her nails over it, _hard_.

What had Helena been thinking? The two of them, _friends_? It's laughable. Hopefully, she had received the message back there. It can't continue like this. First friendship bracelets, then... what?

Rachel wracks her brain until she realizes it. She honestly doesn't know what friends are meant to _do_. She lets out a wry laugh at her own expense. She's seen the students walking to class, side by side, talking and laughing and _touching each other_. They all make it seem so painfully simple.

She opens her fist, looks at the crumpled-up bracelet inside. Disparate pieces woven together, somehow held in place, forced to harmonize. The sun catches it, and she sees the colors. Muted reds and blues stained into the fabric. She gently fixes the creases with her index finger. She sighs, takes one look back at the house, then starts walking. The bracelet is still in her hand, she realizes, and she doesn't feel like pulling her backpack off. Slowly, she slips it onto her wrist. It doesn't itch quite as much anymore.


End file.
